This invention generally relates to lighting systems and, more particularly, to lighting systems that have the appearance of permanently installed light fixtures, but are user-configurable and meet U.L. 153 requirements of portable lamps.
Known lighting systems for mounting on the ceiling of a room typically include hard-wired light fixtures and portable light fixtures. The hard-wired fixtures typically have the electrical distribution for the system installed as part of the wiring for the building in which the lighting system is installed. The light fixtures are placed where desired and an electrician custom fits wiring conduits and wiring to each fixture. Hard-wired fixtures have a neat, desirable appearance. However, once installed, altering the system, by moving a fixture or adding one or more fixtures or switches, would require an electrician to rearrange the wiring of the building.
Portable lamps may be safely installed by persons who are not licensed electricians. For ceiling-mounted lamps, portable lamps are typically installed by affixing the lamp to the ceiling or joist, and then plugging the lamp into an existing conventional outlet. In some instances, portable lamps may be daisy-chained. However, installing more than one portable lamp often results in undesirable and potentially unsafe dangling excess electrical cords. Also, the different portable lamps may not be able to be operated independently of one another.
What is necessary is a lighting system that meets U.L. 153, thereby allowing installation by a person other than an electrician, which is user-configurable and alterable, and yet still has a neat and desirable appearance, such as a hard-wired lighting system.